Seating and reclining furniture unit

ABSTRACT

A seating and reclining furniture unit having a compressible foam core, constructed from a preferably rectangular-shaped mold formed with upholstery material. The corners of the mold are mitred or staved in inwardly, and coated with plastic, to secure the mold in its configuration. Liquid foam is then poured into the mold to form an integral furniture unit from the upholstery material and the compressible foam.

United States Patent 1191 Schwitters Nov. 13, 1973 SEATING AND RECLINING FURNITURE 3,337,884 8/1967 Meier 297/010. 1 UNIT 3,270,394 9/1966 Marsh et al 297/DIG. 1 3,208,085 9/1965 Grimshaw 297/DIG. l Inventor: Henry Schwitters, Burgstrasse 8, 3,273,180 9/1966 Feinerman... 297/1310. 1 Wittmund, Germany 3,592,143 7/1971 Krone 297/440 22 Filed: Oct. 29, 1971 Primary Examiner-Casmir A. Nunberg [21] APPI- 193,803 Att0rneyAllison C. Collard [30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT Oct. 30, 1970 Germany P 20 53 348.6

A seating and reclining furnitureumt havmg a com- 52 US. 01 297/452, 5/355, 5/361 R Pressible foam Core, constructed from Preferably 51 Int. Cl. A47c 7/22, A476 7/14 recfangulaf-shaped formed with Plwlstery 5 Field f Search 297/445 452 DIG. 1 terlal. The COIIICIS Of the mold are mitred or staved in 297/1316 2 440; 5/345, 355 361 inwardly, and coated with plastic, to secure the mold in its configuration. Liquid foam is then poured into [56] References Cited the mold to form an integral furniture unit from the upholstery material and the compressible foam.

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures 1 SEATING AND RECLINING FURNITURE UNIT The present invention relates to furniture, and in particular to seating and reclining furniture units having a compressible foam core.

Conventional seating and reclining furniture consists substantially of a frame and bolster combination unit. Much of this type of furniture is available on the market today. However, these seating and reclining furniture units no longer fit in with the trend in residential dwellings today, the which the trend is towards a residential landscape. A disadvantage of these conventional seating and reclining furniture units is that after use over an extended period of time, the upholstery material and the frame and/or the bolster are no longer securely joined.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide seating and reclining furniture pieces which meet the requirements of a residential landscape concept, and in which the upholstery and the bolster form a solidly joined unit over the entire surface of the unit.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a seating and reclining furniture unit in which the upholstery material is folded into a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the seating and reclining furniture unit, and in which foam material is then poured into the mold formed by the upholstery material to form a compressible foam core for the furniture unit.

One advantage of the design of the furniture unit of the present invention over conventional furniture is that the seating and reclining furniture piece has a simple, spatial three-dimensional form which renders possible subsequent, multifarious combinations of units. Another advantage is that the upholstery material is combined with the foam core as a bolster unit in such a manner that a continuously joined integral unit is formed.

Still another advantage is that folding or creasing of the upholstery material after prolonged use of the piece of furniture is prevented By reducing the furniture units to rectangular molds, the selected bolster material produces a piece of furniture which is capable of adapting itself optimally to changing seating and recliningpositions.

Furthermore, production of the pieces of furniture is less expensive, since none of the handiwork involved in bolster upholstery work is required, and since diversity of the units of shape is produced by merely combining the three-dimensional or spatial furniture units, which are of the most simple possible form.

Another novel feature of the furniture units of the present invention is that the upholstery material is staved in or mitred diagonally at the corners of the mold formed by the material, and are encompassed by plastic material. The advantage of this arrangement is that a permanent, foamed-in bolster is formed without using any glue or the like, and loosening of the upholstery material from the bolster unit is therefore much less probable at the corners, which secure the mold in its rectangular shape. Since, after the foam is poured into the mold, the foam and the upholstery material are permanently coupled together, the corner segments of the upholstery material of the formed unit abut against each other at obtuse angles, and there is, therefore, under normal use, no risk that the upholstery material would tear loose from the foam.

A further novel feature of the invention is that the upholstery material is a layout'fabric, which is joined with a polyester foam to form the furniture unit. Because layout material is used as an upholstery material, the piece of furniture is very durable and has a life-span which cannot be obtained in conventional upholstered or bolster-type furniture of comparable price.

An alternate method to produce a seating and reclining furniture piece from plastic which is amenable to foaming, and a wear-proof upholstery material, is by a bolster unit, that is, a properly dimensioned polyester block, whose corners are mitred or staved in diagonally inwardly. The upholstery material is inserted into and clamped down at the corners. A layer of glue can be provided between the upholstery material and the block of foam to strengthen the joining of the materials if desired.

In order to develop a design and expansion program for a seating and reclining piece of furniture which is as multifarious as possible and which takes into account individual requirements, it is preferable to use a number of standard measurements as a basis for designing the seating and reclining furniture units.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a seating and reclining furniture unit which is simple in design, easy to manufacture, and durable in its use.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which disclose a single embodiment of the invention. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed for the purpose of illustration only, and are not intended as a definition of the limits and scope of the invention.

In the drawings, wherein similar reference numerals denote similar elements throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a perspective cross-sectional view of a seating and reclining furniture unit constructed in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the upholstery material of the furniture unit, showing the mold formed thereby before pouring of the foam material.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a seating and reclining furniture piece 1 comprising upholstery material 2, and compressible foam material 3 constituting a bolster unit. Bolster unit 3 consists of a plastic amenable to foaming, such as polyether foam, and it is bonded indissolubly with upholstery material 2. The plastic is poured directly into a rectangular mold formed by upholstery material 2, to form the furniture unit illustrated.

FIG. 2 shows the mold formed by the upholstery material before pouring of the foam. Corner segments 4 are staved in or mitred inwardly to hold the mold in shape. As can be seen from the bottom view of FIG. 2, the corner areas or segments 4 are mitred in and form inwardly directed, triangular-shaped corner segments having their apices directed toward the top surface of the mold, edges of the corner segments constituting the corners of the furniture unit. The mold formed by upholstery material 2 in FIG. 2 is ready for pouring of the foam. The corner segments are completely encompassed with plastic foam, so that they are securely held in place to maintain the shape of the furniture unit.

In accordance with an optional feature of the invention, the upholstery material may be disposed over and inserted in mitred corners of the foam material, preformed into a block, to constitute the inventive furniture unit.

The furniture unit constructed in accordance with the present invention may be used for sitting or reclining, and may be constructed so as to accommodate one or more persons. The unit is light-weight, inexpensive and durable, and is partially applicable for decorative purposes in informal living areas such as playrooms and family rooms, and for vacation homes. And unlike conventional furniture, it is constructed as an integral lightweight unit, which is easily transported.

While only a single embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it will be obvious to those persons skilled in the art that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A furniture unit comprising:

a sheet of flexible upholstery material folded so as to form a mold of substantially rectangular configuration and having the corner areas mitred in to form inwardly directed triangular-shaped corner segments each having their apices directed towards the top surface of said mold, and their bases lying adjacent to the edge of said mold, the adjacent edges of said mold constituting the corners of the furniture unit; and 

1. A furniture unit comprising: a sheet of flexible upholstery material folded so as to form a mold of substantially rectangular configuration and having the corner areas mitred in to form inwardly directed triangularshaped corner segments each having their apices directed towards the top surface of said mold, and their bases lying adjacent to the edge of said mold, the adjacent edges of said mold constituting the corners of the furniture unit; and a compressible foam material for forming a core for the furniture unit having a periphery substantially complimentary with the interior of said mold, said foam material including slits disposed at each corner thereof so as to be approximately complimentary with said triangular-shaped corner segments of said mold.
 2. The furniture unit as defined in claim 1, further comprising a layer of adhesive material, disposed between said upholstery material and said block of foam material, for bonding said upholstery material to said foam material. 